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Messages - merrychase

#61
Well done!

#62
The pvp rule boundaries with regards to peerage and other areas is not ideal, but it is rational for both setting reasons and practical reasons.

This suggestion strikes me as stemming more from sour grapes than well considered improvement.

The server is big, and so much of it is pvp-free that giving some characters more latitude to initiate single-party consent pvp without some balancing change could, overall, decrease the quantity and quality of roleplay and character interactions.

As for the complaint about some characters avoiding or minimizing exposure to pvp in NPC populated areas, that could very well be explained by in character reasons, e.g. those characters were forewarned about such a plot. But, even if its not, frankly it could say just as much about you as it does them as role-players. I would rather strive to have a conflict of this type be something all involved players can see as engaging, worthwhile, consequential, and consistent with the characters  and their interactions - and barring that, at least sportingly fair. This may be one reason why retainers are incentivized to engage in formal duels with honor stakes and so forth, rather than drive by shootings in the checkout line.

I really do think if players of retainers put their minds to it, they can come up with lots of other things to try or do in the sort of situation you have described; and indeed both examples in the past, and those offered in this thread are worth considering. Besides, being quick to subdue or kill people may not cement a character's reputation as a lawful authority figure of the realm. Currently, that does seem to me to be something a character has to establish and maintain, rather than be granted by membership status alone.
#63
Moving it inside the peerage might be a happy middle.

That is, the PVP rule boundary (a concept that may be necessary, though is not exactly natural) could remain where it is, since attacks by the doorkeeper's transition are not the only reason fights do occur in that area of the map. Though as you point out those occurrences because of the sendings are probably the most frequent and have a relatively high risk for generating rule violations/grievances/cheese.

And there's precedent for such an arrangement, e.g. Ticker had that, and the Drill to some extent has it, other doorkeeper in the rings have it.

Like you say, the issue isn't pvp free areas leading out to doorkeepers, or pvp not-free ones; both exist. Its a combination of it being frequently used and in an area where the distances make it prone to those sort of situations occurring where it can start but not finish because of the rules.

Doesn't address what I see as some of the less than ideal customs and practices around sendings, but that's probably a harder problem!
#64
Screen Shots & Obituaries / Re: Haggahwhisp, the Visitor
September 30, 2022, 05:18:28 AM
A very textured character. Terrifying, mighty, uncanny, insecure, gullible, curious - he came alive from the screen, a very human portrayal . Credit to the form. Really enjoyed all the hours we got to play.

So many screenshots, but somehow this one seems the most fitting.



#65
Not many characters that can pull off such a wide range: Fernando had plenty of light-hearted moments, but also deeply moving tragic ones. A joy to play with. Bravo.

Why did the man in black have a scarf of green?



Snow pressed on new lashes, flogged by Orzans for keeping the wrong company.


He was also a teenage mutant ninja turtle


#66
Fig. The. Bastard.

Here's a shot of Fig helping the Druids and Sunpurse with the transformation of Phelan (not a great shot but proof!).

A week later he was burning down the Groundskeeper cabin (what a legend).

Glad we got to play together and also lock horns. I really enjoyed Rin and Fig's grudging respect for one another.

#67
Suggestions / Re: Alarm spell rebalancing
August 24, 2022, 07:19:51 AM
This is not an idle debate or theoretical practice. This is something in the game world now, at play, effecting characters and players.

To their credit, Diablo has fully employed this spell for what it is: a level two spell that can fix an opponent in time and space.

Compare this to scry for an insight

Alarm:

Alarm, extended lasts over three hours at level 10
It persists over rests
It is not bound by region or ring, you can sense an alarm from across the cosmos
It is undetectable, there's no contested roll
It is tireless, it fires as many times as there PC's who trip it
You can distinguish signals by stacking casts of the spell ontop of each other. 2 pings means location X, 3 pings means location Y. combined with that fact that this spell persists across rests means you can setup sensors across many choke points.
Given a characters spawn location or other easily inferable facts can locate them using the player list and log in time.
Totally hides your own location, you can spy on others with zero risk of revealing your own location.
Its a level two spell.

Scry on the other hand

Involves a special locations/foci to use
limited number of casts per rest
Can only be used against players in the same ring.
Involves contested rolls
Once per PC per cast is the general paradigm
You have to camp a scry focus to be able to reliably detect if somebody of interest is near
Not available in all locations
Single target, anything else you perceive must be derived from circumstance
If detected, reveals your own location
the ward area spell counters it
Its a level 4 spell (6 for druids and cleric)

Here's the situation
A thoughtful player can know somebody else logs in at a certain time of day, and given facts about their opponent, such as their spawn point, lay down a series of alarms to detect their movements from thirty or more rings away away and be prepared by the time the opponents enters a certain transition to hit them, with exquisite timing, with spells/summons/allies/traps/ etc.

Scry on the other hand remains an incredibly useful spell, but only usable on a much narrower set of circumstances.

To fix, one or several changes could be used
1.) I like the idea of a spider in her web, but it should be local. Alarm could only work in a ring or map that you are currently occupying. No telegraph of location 80 light years away.
2.) Alternatively, if you did want to keep the long range aspects, alarms should not persists across rests. That means somebody who set up 10 extended alarms has to burn through the slots and suffer the consequences of not having those spells when they rest
3.) Make alarms possible to detect. With the design of the game world you can 100% combine map knowledge and transition choke points along with player login times to geolocate somebody. That's too much power, especially for a level 2 spell. Plus it goes against the overall design principle where if somebody is taking a hostile action against your character, your at least have a chance to detect its happening
4.) Make alarms single fire. Retains a lot of its advantages, but now acts more like other traps , once its set off by whoever, it no longer functions. Why should a deadly trap from a rogue only get one fire (that can also potentially reveal location from far away) be radically different in this regard to a spell?

End of the day, Diablo's right. A thoughtful player, especially combined with map knowledge and OOC info such as log in time and player list, can use this spell to pin point movements of locations of many opponents from any distance and in a three and half hour window.

I have thought of several counters to this use of the spell. Lots of erratic movement, doubling back, standing for long periods of time on locations where you think alarms may be. Or idling in locations where it makes no sense to idle. Choosing inefficient routes. Using unexpected spawn locations, using variable log in times or intervals between logins. So far the counters have been reliably lame, and for how linear much of the server really is, ineffective.
#68
Bug Reports / Zif-Uroti's Chambers take limited
August 22, 2022, 04:47:59 PM
Zif-Uroti's Chambers, one of the randomized quest options that spawns in 99 has an unadvertised take limit of 4 attempts per character. Some text to the quest giver should be added OR the take limit removed. Although this quest has some unique items, my impression is that it is not radically different from other high level quests and the randomized aspect probably already addresses concern of over subscription.
#69
Screen Shots & Obituaries / Re: Isaiah ibn Hazr
July 29, 2022, 05:16:28 PM
The scope and depth of this character was truly singular. Thanks for showing us how good it can get. Masterfully done.







And Rin's letters hidden away in the lusty romance novel is a detail that makes me laugh.
#70
Suggestions / Re: Summon Storm / Ward Area
June 06, 2022, 06:14:03 PM
Good point, Ward Area is probably doing too much for a single spell.

As another alternative, consider having Ward Area unable to remove a previously conjured storm, but instead give this ability to another spell like Gust of Wind, or even Dismissal (I like that this also makes clerics rather than wizards better at countering a "divine" magic spell)
#71
Seedy cramped black market with random merchants. Could take some from the old Ticker and put in rotation some new ones with a few interesting items / consumables

Rat raft style arena, no retainers. half a dozen Moil themed combatants
#72
1. Appropriately gritty hidden alchemy lab and/or tinkering bench. Scrying orb in disreputable spot

2. explorable spawn points with new explorable board with dry dock themed encounters 
#73
A truth speaking everyman who grasped the reigns and shook them, damn the consequences!

the anticipation and reveal was masterful

really enjoyed our tête-à-tête, and blue too. Well done gentleman.



#74
Definitely on the side of the angels.


Spinning the Wheel


A short sage and headstrong hero


Making Promises


Keeping Promises

#75
A really touching portrayal of a young man